1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such devices are mostly used to mount filter lenses (which provide protection against solar radiation) to eyeglasses with prescription lenses and are generally of a standard type that does not correspond to the frame of the eyeglasses. They are also fitted with lenses that do not have the same shape as the prescription lenses of the eyeglasses, which makes the combination of the device with filter lenses and the eyeglasses with prescription lenses rather heavy, bulky and unattractive. Also, these prior art devices include means for attaching them to the eyeglasses whose fit to the frame of the eyeglasses is somewhat hit and miss.
There has already been proposed, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,370, a device of the above type that is formed of a flexible material bridge and two flexible material supports fixed to the bridge by screws. Nylon filaments for mounting lenses on the supports are fixed or attached to the supports. Hooks for fixing the device to the eyeglasses are mounted on the supports by means of screws. This device provides a better match to the shape of the frame of the eyeglasses, thanks to the flexibility of the bridge and the supports, but because the hooks and the supports are fixed by means of screws, it is relatively complex, time-consuming and costly to fabricate and assemble.
One particular object of the invention is to simplify the fabrication and assembly of a device of the above kind and thereby reduce its cost.
Another object of the invention is to render this type of device adaptable to any type of eyeglasses.
It provides a device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses, including a bridge connected to branches including means for fixing a flexible filament for mounting supplementary lenses on said branches, and attachment means for attaching the device to the eyeglasses, characterized in that the bridge and the branches are made in one piece from a flexible material.
This feature of the invention greatly simplifies the structure of the device for fixing supplementary lenses to eyeglasses, simplifies its fabrication and assembly, increases it reliability, and greatly reduces its unit cost.
Moreover, the flexibility of the bridge and the branches enables a good match to be obtained to the shape of the lenses and to the shape of the frame of the eyeglasses.
Advantageously, the bridge and the flexible branches are molded in one piece from a plastics material or diecast in one piece from a metal.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the attachment means are formed in one piece with said flexible branches
Accordingly, a single molding operation produces a device comprising a bridge, lens support branches, and attachment means, such as flexible hooks, for fixing the device to eyeglasses.
According to another characteristic of the invention, at least some of the attachment means are mounted on the flexible filament for fixing the supplementary lens to said flexible branch.
Advantageously, the position of the elastic attachment means can be adjusted by sliding it along the flexible filament.
This means that the device according to the invention can be matched to any shape of eyeglasses frame.
Generally speaking, the device according to the invention is extremely simple because it can be made in one piece, is light in weight, unobtrusive and compact, and can be matched to all types of eyeglasses frames and lenses.